To people who've never seen this movie, but are curious about the controversy:
1. It is not a happily-ever-after story.
2. You won't laugh a lot. You won't likely get excited, either. No pulse-pounding suspense.
3. It is difficult to find a character that is ... likeable. Any of them.
4. The final scene--the comely campaign worker in the "hero's" cab--may or may not be reality. Perhaps the protagonist's fantasy.

However: if you are intrigued by the protagonist's ambiguity--he's literate, keeps a diary, but can't relate to women (like many men)--go for it. If you appreciate an example of artistic performance, direction, and--nobody on this page mentions this--atmospheric cinematography (thank you, Michael Chapman) and also evocative music (another master: Bernard Hermann) then see this. Blu ray does it best.

My take on some comments here"
Sez one: "...this movie still contains enough power to unsettle/ divide people about the films merits after all this time." Response: absolutely; many of TODAY's movies are forgettable almost immediately. This one just won't let most people go...

Another reviewer: "how Jodie foster could have allowed herself to be so objectified (considering what she has since come to represent), is a mystery to me." Response: Foster wasn't objectified. Her character, Iris, was. Nor was Cybill Shepherd objectified. It was her character, Betsy. Actresses portray all sorts of people. How viewers confuse fiction with reality is a mystery to ME.

"In this movie, life is aimless." Response: For that cinema sin, a 1/2 star rating?? In any case, while Travis's life might appear aimless, think a moment. Remember his diary entries: "Here is a man who...stood up!" It takes him the first half of the movie to define his course of action, and then, oh, boy. Not aimless at all.

Other reviewers seem to feel this is an "old-fashioned" movie. Response: Granted, it depicts what is now an historic period--the mid-1970s during New York City's depth of sleaze. That's not a fault--It's a fact. The movie's themes are, if anything, more timely than ever. Theme one: the alienated, socially inept are potentially dangerous single men are potentially dangerous--and will find a way to "stand up." One of those men just took out 10 people with a van in Toronto this week. He claimed to be an "Incel"--look it up. In that sense, he's no different than millions of angry men. 40 years ago, Travis' behaviour was uncommon. Sadly, that's not the case any more.

Theme two--one that few here pick up on--and the movie's ultimate irony--the guy's outrageous behaviour means something else entirely. As one reviewer puts it, "one minute a monster, the next a [made by media] hero."

About criticism "surrounding movies that deal with tough subject matter and " anti-heroes " another reviewer comments, "it's as if people can't conceive of a movie plot outside of one involving a superhero- sad really- it points to a general dumbing down in society as a whole." Martin Scorcese doesn't consider it "dumbing down," just...shifting: "It's harder now to make a film like The Departed, which is insulting to a lot of people. It uses language that's offensive. And it's violent. Maybe ten or twelve years before I made those films [The Departed, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and Casino] it wasn't that way. Maybe we were a little closer [in film-making] to something like brutal reality." (Quotes from Conversations with Scorsese.)

Winner of the prestigious Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival (1976) and nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture (1976), TAXI DRIVER stars Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's classic film of a psychotic New York cabby driven to violence by loneliness and desperation. Co-starring Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle and Cybill Shepherd.

A great movie with a fantastic performance by Robert De Niro- one of the best American films of the 20th Century. This film will be jarring to those raised on superhero pap and other mindless movies currently in vogue.
It's funny how this movie still contains enough power to unsettle/ divide people about the films merits after all this time. That means it's an enduring work of art- perhaps those who don't like it/ appreciate it have an ideological purpose behind their aimless disavowals of Taxi Driver. Go figure huh.

The worst thing about this movie is the awful score. It is obnoxiously abhorrent and totally takes away from the film which really isn't that good in the first place. This is a movie that does not hold up well over time. Overall, quite disappointing.

the great Bernard Herrmann is oppressive on this film. the music is so strong it calls attention to itself. how Jodie foster could have allowed herself to be so objectified(considering what she has since come to represent), is a mystery to me. Martin Scorcese's cameo is unconvincing. DeNiro's performance is subtly nuanced. Travis Bickle does a lot of listening. In the end, he is a weakling, overcome by the environmental pressures to the point of murderous violence. Cybill Shepherd looks wonderful. Why the Albert Brooks character escaped the Travis Bickle wrath, is another mystery to me (see Jodie Foster comment above).

A very interesting peek behind the curtain of what it looks like to be alone in society. Travis Bickle was as dirty as the people he looked down on, and couldn't get a grip on his life, one minute a monster, the next a hero. A real slow burn of a movie, with an interesting ending.

The blend of Schrader's script, Scorsese's direction and De Niro's performance is both riveting and unnerving. A film that will stay with you forever.

Marinetti
Mar 16, 2017

An absolute classic- the movie captures the post Vietnam malaise of American society in a perfect slice of nightmarish alienation and horror. Winner of the Palme D'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival. A must see for intelligent and acute movie lovers.

Quotes

Travis Bickle: "The days go on and on... they don't end. All my life needed was a sense of someplace to go. I don't believe that one should devote his life to morbid self-attention; I believe that one should become a person like other people."

Age Suitability

Summary

Certain films are iconic in themselves or for certain lines, Taxi Driver falls into both categories. I have often heard it talked about and I could not even begin to count how many times I have heard people say the lines, “You talkin to me, are you, talking to me, you must be talkin to me cause I don’t see anybody else here.”. So saying that, I finally got around to seeing it and I think it is a really good movie, probably not as great as everybody thinks it is, but overall I liked it a lot. De Niro does an excellent job as Travis Bickle, you really get the feeling of isolation while being in the middle of everyone, and the score and city itself really helps with that. If I was judging this movie on acting alone I would give it 5 stars, but due to the amount of swearing, the fact that Bickles idea of a nice date is to go to a pornographic movie and the child prostitution kinda makes it lose some stars, but I do understand some of that is necessary for the story. The cast for Taxi Driver was really good too, and I don’t think I have ever seen Harvey Keitel look that young before. So overall Taxi Driver was pretty darn amazing, although I doubt Bickle would have survived with that many wounds, and if he did, I am pretty sure he would have been thrown in to jail for what he did, but what do you want, its a movie.
4.5 Beards Out Of 5